A Hero's Face
by Kamikazee
Summary: Lillian gets comfort from an unexpected person during a rough time. Songfic: The Safest Place - Leann Rimes


A Hero's Face  
  
Author: Kamikazee E-Mail: neo_kamikazee@hotmail.com Rating: PG Characters/Pairings: Rock/Lillian Warnings: No warnings Spoilers: 12/8/03 Raw (Rock's return) Summary: Lillian finds some help from an unexpected source Distribution: Fanfiction.net, Personal Space, anyone who wants it, just e- mail me the URL Author's Notes: Just a cute little story that popped into my head Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or situations depicted in the WWE. This is a piece of non-profit fanfiction. No copyright infringement is intended.  
  
~  
  
(Thank God that you were by my side. On a night. On a night.)  
  
The people surrounded her. She could hear their voices flowing over her. Raised in yells and screams, the insults flowed. She was belittled, scoffed at, and told she would never be worth anything.  
  
More than anything, she wanted to cry, to scream, to tell them to leave her alone. She couldn't though. Every time she tried to voice any kind of defence, there was nothing. No voice, no croak, no sound at all came from her.  
  
Tears flowed down her face. She wanted to sob, but she couldn't. She wanted to tell them all to go away and to leave her alone, but she couldn't. She couldn't do anything but sit there and take it.  
  
As the people pressed in, their insults increased. The words hit the young woman hard, striking her as painfully as any blow. The words weren't stopping. There was no pause in the torment, just a continual reminder of each and every way in which she had failed.  
  
Opening her mouth, Lillian Garcia let out a scream. No noise was heard.  
  
(Daytime I'm fine Everything is back to normal Last night I thought that I would die I had nightmares, I was so scared Thank God that you were by my side To hold me when I cried)  
  
Eyes snapping open the young woman panted for breath. Her mouth was so stiffly clamped shut that her jaw was aching with the effort. Letting a sigh escape her lips, she released the tightness she had held during sleep.  
  
Bringing one small hand up to her face, the blonde ring announcer felt the wetness of tears. Her eyes were filled as she let out a heart broken whisper, "Not again."  
  
Pushing back the covers around her, Lillian pushed herself up from the bed, it's covers wrinkled from constant movement. Sparring a glance at her roommate, she saw Ivory sound asleep on the other bed, sprawled comfortably and lightly snoring.  
  
Taking a glance at the bedside clock she moaned, four in the morning. She knew from experience that she would get no sleep after this. Resigning herself to the inevitable, the pretty young woman slipped a pair of running shoes on and silently opened the door.  
  
As she headed down the hallway, she couldn't find the energy to be worried about someone seeing her in her 'Hello Kitty' pyjamas. She had slept so little this week that little mattered to her any more.  
  
(I wanna be strong But I don't want to be alone tonight I wanna believe that I can save the world And make it right But I'm only human, and you've got a hero's face Right here in your arms is the safest place The safest place)  
  
Lillian counted herself as lucky that there was a 24-hour diner across the street from her hotel. She didn't know what she would have done otherwise, seeing how she had two hours until the hotel restaurant opened.  
  
As she was seated in a small booth by the window, she didn't look up. It would have been almost preferable to be able to concentrate on the few other early diners. As it was, she was stuck dwelling on the nightmares that had been plaguing her.  
  
Nursing the small cup of coffee the young woman stared off into space, trying to figure out, in vain, what was wrong with her? Her eyes were transfixed on the dark brown liquid as though it held the answer to all her problems inside.  
  
Even if she hadn't been completely in her own world, it wasn't likely that Lillian would have noticed the pair of eyes that watched her from a table across the diner. Performing in front of live crowds had taught her to ignore the feeling of eyes on her.  
  
The man who was looking at her wasn't a fan though, not in the conventional sense. Sunglasses covered eyes that looked at her as if he knew her. The worried look in his eyes stayed as he noticed the dark bags under the blonde's eyes.  
  
(It feels so real You showed me I could trust you With emotions I had locked away It was your touch, your words They healed the deepest part of me That only you can see)  
  
Seeing her head drop to the table top with a light thud, the man finally had enough. Watching her sip coffee was hard enough; he couldn't just sit here and watch her break down. Not without doing something to try to stop her.  
  
As the man rose from his chair and grabbed his own drink, he slowly made his way over to the ring announcer. Seeing her make no movement at his approach, he slipped into the booth across from her without a sound.  
  
Sitting in silence for a moment, he realized that the young woman wasn't ignoring him; she had no idea he was even there. Reaching up and pulling his shades of, he tapped them onto the surface of the table. Following that, the usually fluent man cleared his throat, searching for something to say.  
  
As hazel eyes shot up in surprise to meet his brown ones he decided quickly on his words, "Hey, didn't get much of a chance to talk to you at Raw, Lillian."  
  
"Rock."  
  
(I wanna be strong But I don't want to be alone tonight I wanna believe that I can save the world And make it right But I'm only human, and you've got a hero's face Right here in your arms is the safest place)  
  
"Yes, I saw you over her, all alone," he answered, trying to keep his voice light, it wouldn't do to let Lillian know that he had been watching her, "I was alone as well, figured we could be alone together." He finished off with a dazzling smile, hoping the petite blonde wouldn't tell him to leaven her table.  
  
"Oh," was the simple answer, a confused look on her face as she tried to work out his intentions, "That's fine. But, I've got to tell you; I'm probably not the best of company right now. " Her eyes dropped again to her coffee, avoiding Rock's gaze.  
  
Rock let a small smile curve his lips, "I wouldn't say that. I've never seen you be bad company for someone, I doubt this time will be any different."  
  
He was rewarded with a slight twist of her pink lips, and her rising tired eyes to meet him. "I haven't really slept in a while. I also don't really have anything of interest to say." The loneliness in those hazel eyes was crushing, and Rock had to fight the incredible urge to pull the small woman into his arms and try to make everything better.  
  
For some reason, he didn't think that would go over to well.  
  
(As long as I am with you As long as I can feel you That's all I need to keep me going On and on and on)  
  
A topic breached his mind, probably not the most appropriate, but he couldn't help the need he felt to find out her problems. "How 'bout telling me why you haven't been sleeping?" The question was voiced quietly, but with a gentle firmness to it.  
  
She looked up at him, her eyes sharp with desperation. There was a needy look in those orbs that pulled at the large man's heartstrings. As quickly as the blonde had looked up, she just as quickly returned her gaze downward. "You don't want to hear about my stupid problems."  
  
As she trailed off, Rock looked at her with sharp eyes. An irrational anger took over the former champion, the thought of no one caring about this beautiful woman difficult for him to process. He may not have always been a nice guy, but he had always noticed her.  
  
He took a second to control his breathing before answering her rationally, "I wouldn't have asked if I didn't mean it."  
  
Lillian's eyes stayed locked on the table as she let out a barely audible, "Okay."  
  
(I wanna believe that I can save the world And make it right But I'm only human, and you've got a hero's face Right here in your arms is the safest place)  
  
"I've been having these dreams," she started, voice shaking slightly, "In them, I can't talk, I can't make any noise at all. People are all around, and they're yelling, but there's so much noise, I can't make out what they're saying, just that it's bad." Her sentence broke at the end, and Rock was dismayed when he noticed tears floating in her eyes.  
  
"Shhh.." He reassured softly, reaching for her hands, holding onto the soft fingertips, "It's alright, don't worry about it. Shhhh." Quickly seeing the woman breaking down, the wrestler turned actor moved quickly out of his seat and into the seat beside Lillian.  
  
As he circled his large arms around her frail frame, he felt her shudder. He barely caught the words she said next. "You must think I'm such a baby," she sniffled, "I mean, they're just dreams." He quieted her words with a tightening of his arms around her.  
  
"They're not just dreams if they mean this much to you.." He comforted, trying to soothe the young woman. His hands were unconsciously rubbing circles on her back. "Just let me take care of you, okay? I'll take care of you."  
  
(Right here in your arms is the safest place The safest place The safest place)  
  
Half an hour later, the Rock carried a peacefully sleeping Lillian Garcia into his hotel room. When the woman had fallen asleep, he had been a little lost about what to do with her before coming to a decision. She obviously needed rest, and a diner was no place to get it.  
  
Setting the blonde down carefully on the large bed, Rock went to move away. The small hand that circled around his arm and stopped him for a second impeded him. Looking back at the bed, he saw Lillian still fast asleep, her hand holding his wrist as if it was a lifeline.  
  
Sighing quietly, the man climbed into the bed beside the woman, once again circling his arms around her. As Lillian Garcia slept peacefully in his arms, The Rock couldn't think of a better way to spend an early morning. 


End file.
